Why I Love Instapaper for Reading Fanfic
Monday, December 31st, 2018 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jesse_the_kI've been reading fanfic for twenty years! I started reading on desktop computers with CRT screens. Upgraded to a Palm OS device with the lovely iSilo reader. This showed me the magic of offline fanfic: I could read while reclining. When I finally got a laptop, I backslid a bit. I would download web pages and read them offline in my browser, but I was still tied to the upright posture a laptop requires.
I had a brief flirtation with a Kobo e-ink reader, but it wasn't bright enough for me. That did teach me to appreciate ereader software—I got an iPod Touch basically just to read fanfic on the bus. I stepped up to an iPad for the larger print--things got really swell when I got a LEVO iPad Stand*
I've tried every reader program there is, and mostly I use Instapaper on my iPad/iPhone.
- Its native language is web pages, and almost all fics live on the web.
- Vastly simplifies commenting. Instapaper has built-in highlighting & note taking. At the end of each file, it offers a "share these notes" in HTML, markdown, or text. The shared info automagically includes the Title and URL along with whatever I've added.
- In addition to a single level of named folders I can organize as I wish, it offers "liked" and "archived" collections.
- It's a delightful reading experience: many fonts, great colors, switches between dark and light interface based on sunset.
Drawbacks:
- no searching within the fic
- no native bookmarks within a fic (I leave a highlight note as a workaround)
Instapaper is available for iOS, Android, and Kindle as well as the web
https://www.instapaper.com/apps
and the basic service is free!
* I got the older one with bungee cords which is not very 21st century but it works.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-01 02:54 am (UTC)Yes you can!
Date: 2019-01-01 07:44 pm (UTC)AO3 also provides MOBI format downloads, but it's faster to use Instapaper for anything less than a novel.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-01 07:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-01 03:17 pm (UTC)Pretty damn sturdy. The base weighs ~20 lbs and has office-chair quality casters (they don't lock—but it's heavy enough I've not had trouble with it rolling away when I touch it, and they're smooth enough that I have no trouble rolling it around, even on carpet).
The height adjustment locks are ~4cm cylinders, so no twist or wobble. The metal tubing is a rounded rectangle in section, which also minimizes twisting. The locks compress this tube, with a 4cm paddle cam—easy for my arthritic fingers. The head/tray is backed with a semi-circular sphere, so I can rotate 360° in every direction—switching from portrait to landscape is super quick. I've typed on my mini screen keyboard no problem. The only drawback are the bungee cord hold-downs, which permit some slippage. The current version with clamps to hold the tablet in place, looks much better—I'm contemplating buying a new tray. The device is modular enough that I can do that.
There are assistive-tech specific ones, which are of course four times the price and non-returnable, which I haven't tried. Frankly, I wish all assistive tech had this high level build quality. Nice materials, nothing flimsy, clean machinery, any locking screws are designed to be turned with a coin, not requiring a tool.
It comes knocked down—I don't know if I could have put it together myself. another thanks to MyGuy.
I'm completely satisfied—and I would be if I'd spent three times the price. If you've got a specific position you need, I'd be happy to set that up and take pictures.
They have a 30-day-guarantee: http://www.ebookholder.com.au http://www.ebookholder.com.au/ (they do have the non-powered version, you have to click around to see it).
(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-08 02:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-09 08:34 pm (UTC)